At the Beginning
I have spent many days at Mouthshut now, I may not be very experienced writer or Reviewer, but I would like to share few things that I learnt in the course of time.
Why Rate???
1.Ratings help people to choose
Ratings of reviews are important because members or non-members who are looking for an information/advice would be normally interested in only Highly Recommended or Recommended reviews. So the reviewer should be careful when he/she is giving a HR for a review so that only good/honest reviews get the same else the entire philosophy of Mouth Shut community would go down the drain.
Ratings Encourage
One direct effect of a Review rating is the encouragement that the person who wrote the review gets. If it has been rated HR, then the person is elated and starts in believing him self, but if the rating is SR, the person may loose interest and enthusiasm to write. Come on, its a human tendency, if you dont get a pat on your back once in a while, you feel blue. It happens in what ever activity you do.
I agree with others (who have posted comments reg the same) that when you rate a review you should take the following things into consideration. I have come up with a list or attributes I generally look for in a review, before rating it.
Some General Guidelines
1.Justice - The most important parameter would be whether the review is written under the correct content holder. If in this spot, I write a review about Bajaj Scooter, it wouldn’t make sense. There should be at least a teeny weeny link between the review topic and the review. Else it should get a NR.
2.Informative - If you can get atleast one piece of good/new information that you can use, its good.
3.Comprehensive - Short reviews normally doesn’t convey all the pros & cons of the product, and generally touches upon one or two features.
4.Well Written?? - This parameter is subjective and may wary from person to person, some things you may consider is properly written sentences and paragraphs, and examples and anecdotes greatly enrich any review.
5.Experience - When you rate a review, you should take into consideration the experience of the person. You can give a new member a R for his first attempt if the review is only SR. This is strictly to encourage the person and you can put in a comment stating the ’gaps’ that needs to be filled to make the review better. This gives a chance to the member to correct himself.
6.Gut Feeling - Sometimes the Ratings depends on Gut feel, you just feel that a 5 line review is great, it happens only once in a blue moon, but it happens.
7.Organisation & Readability - If the review is readable, properly organized in modular format, it increases its effectiveness. So I take this also into consideration.
This parameter list is not exhaustive, but these are the some of the things I look for. (I may not be following the same, but I know the effects of not doing it so!!!)
End??
You know what, the original review I had posted in this place was not this one, but I was new and people encouraged me and I continued writing. For the reference of new members or guests, the original review is posted below, most of the comments posted before March 20th is for that one. Please see whether I have followed them properly and then do rate this one!!!.
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Original Review
This is not a review, I am just confused and wanted some answers, so experienced star writers, please go thru the same and help me find the answers
I started writing reviews here two days back. What I encountered was amazing. People who read your review before you save it!!!(there are some very alert people out there!!!) , people who come back to you and tell you what u done right and what was wrong. People who encourage you even though u know that u are not a great writer.
Couple of disturbing thoughts and ’’answerless’’ questions
When I write a review, I hope that I get a HR or atleast a R(I am selfish..:-(), but when I rate a review, and if I find the review not worthy, should I rate it a NR or not rate it all???
Will the person whose review I rated, rate my reviews as NR just because I rated his NR???
I dont mean harm and I believe that all people should be encouraged. I rated a review few minutes back and I gave a NR, now I am feeling bad about it. Is it anyway I can change the review or remove it from the rating list????
What differenciates a good review from a bad one, is there a standard set of guidelines or format???
Few of my reviews are HR, are they really good or you guys are doing it just to encourage me????
I don’t have answers to any of these questions, and I feel that I should not rate any reviews anymore. I would certainly read them and put my comment in.
I am feeling really lousy now, am hanging up.
Hope to see you soon.
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